Tennessee Titans 2021 second-round pick Dillon Radunz has worn many hats over the course of his first three seasons in the NFL, with the North Dakota State product playing at every spot upfront but center.
Things haven’t exactly gone great for Radunz, with a torn ACL in 2022 added to his overall issues, but he did finish 2023 strong as the right tackle, where he gave up just one sack and seven pressures over the final five weeks.
That impressive stretch run led many to believe that Radunz would at least be in the conversation for starting right tackle in 2024, but Titans head coach Brian Callahan made it clear that the team views him as a guard.
And that was something that was relayed to Radunz very quickly. He told reporters on Wednesday that offensive line coach Bill Callahan told him the team would play him at guard the first time the two spoke.
“I think the first time I sat down with Bill (Callahan), that was kind of the conversation we had, just moving to guard and working predominantly at guard,” Radunz said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “I know I can play other positions as well, but just being able to focus on one is nice.”
One of the points of contention with how the last coaching staff handled Radunz was the fact that he was always moving to different spots, which can have a negative impact on a young player’s development.
But that has not been the case this offseason, something Radunz is no doubt happy about.
“(Guard) is where I’ve been working out mostly this offseason,” he said. “Like I said, being able to learn from Bill at that one spot has just been awesome. I’ve learned a lot so far and it’s going well.”
In preparation for his move to guard, Radunz has added what he calls “healthy and good weight,” but that isn’t the only reason for adding more to his frame.
“Obviously, last offseason I was rehabbing my knee the whole time, so just coming into an offseason where I’m able to just put on healthy and good weight throughout the whole offseason, having a good offseason training program — I give props to the new strength staff we have, too — I feel like I’ve been able to gain a lot of muscle on that. I wouldn’t say it’s predominantly just because I’m moving to guard, but it’s just been a good offseason for training-wise.”
With the left guard spot locked up by Peter Skoronski, Radunz has his sights set on the right guard spot, where he’s competing against Daniel Brunskill and Saahdiq Charles.
“I’m just striving to be a starter,” Radunz said. “Obviously, I want that spot. So, that’s what I’m going to try to do, that’s what I’m striving to do and we’ll see what happens.”
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